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The bleak look in his eyes struck at her resolution to remain distant. ‘I’ve no intention of marrying. If you find someone to marry, we’d need to relook at the arrangements with the children.’
Something was going on here. Something beyond his reluctance to make any commitments beyond the children. That was understandable. It had been twelve years of living separate lives. He’d travelled the world and she’d stayed here, building a life for her family. The only thing they had in common these days were the twins. It wasn’t necessary to be married to co-parent as Morgan kept reminding her. At times with an almost desperate air.
She pushed herself to her feet. There was a lot to process here, quite aside from the possibility of house sharing. If only she could bring herself to ask him more about this illness that brought him back home. Unwillingly. His reluctance to be here was clear enough.
‘I should head home. Thackery always starts early for the market.’
Morgan rose in a hurry, following her to the door. They paused at the top of the steps and Becca checked out the large open area almost surrounded by sheds and the old stables. It would be a good place for the children. Morgan would be good for them. It meant keeping close to Grace and Ned. Something the twins would appreciate. They were fond of their grandparents and they had no other family. Although … ‘Jordan Taite is your cousin, isn’t he?’
Pulling his attention back from the night sky, Morgan looked down with a puzzled frown. ‘Yes. What brings that on?’
‘I hadn’t thought about it, but if you’re acknowledged as their father, your extended family becomes Edward and Gabby’s family. Cousins.’
‘I’ve never had much to do with Jordan apart from family gatherings. He’s closer to your age and we went to different schools.’
‘All the same, it’ll be nice for them to have more cousins. Susannah’s little ones, too.’
A laugh grated its way from Morgan’s chest. ‘I don’t know any of them. They’ve been married and had families while I’ve been gone. I’ve missed out on all of it. They’re strangers.’
She recognised the pain in the bitten-out words. Not only his cousin’s children but his own.
The momentary doubts about combining their households fled under the overwhelming guilt at what she had allowed to be stolen from Morgan. There was no way back. Only forward. Even if it hurt. She had a feeling that was a given in this situation.
Becca walked along the street to the clinic in a dream. She needed to get her head around what Patsy Maddox had to say about the property. No way had she imagined the kind of values the realtor had quoted at her. There was a potential buyer from Sydney looking for suitable residential waterfront land to build on as well. She shook her head. Events were rushing way too fast. In the eight years since her initial query, the changes in the town had sent real estate booming. All those tree-changers coming from the cities with surplus funds in their pockets from selling up at city prices.
There was no reason to pull back from Morgan’s proposal. She could be quite independent and still let him have full access to the two children. It would be nice to not have to be the beggar at the gates. More like an equal partnership, with her being able to contribute her fair share. She almost skipped as she entered the clinic through the automatic door.
Laureen looked up from the computer with raised brows. ‘You look chirpy. Come into a fortune?’
‘Maybe.’ Becca grinned back. ‘I had my house valued.’
Karen ducked her head out of the medical storeroom. ‘Good news?’
‘Very good. Is Morgan in?’
Laureen waved at the closed door of the consultant’s room. ‘He’s got Doctor Long in with him. They had lunch together and I think they’re talking business.’
At that moment the door opened and Michael Long appeared. He was a familiar sight as he came up from Bialga a couple of times a week to operate at the hospital. His dark eyes focused on Becca and she returned his smile. Morgan emerged from the office and shook the other doctor’s hand before the visitor left the clinic with a wave for the staff.
Morgan half turned, as if to enter his office and halted. ‘Did you want to speak to me? I think I have a couple of minutes before the afternoon influx begins.’
Becca followed him in and sat in the chair at the end of the desk reserved for patients. ‘I spoke to the real estate agent. She thinks I could get a good deal for my place.’ When she named the amount his eyes widened.
‘Impressive. I thought the riverside address might attract buyers, but the condition of the house would be against it.’
‘She said it was an advantage. It’ll be easy to bulldoze the place and start fresh. The only way it could be better is no house at all. People want to build something themselves to suit their lifestyle, apparently.’
He frowned down at the blotter on the desk, tracing the symbol of a well-known pharmaceutical company with the tip of his pen. ‘What do you plan to do with the money, if you sell?’
‘I’ll get a car. Maybe a new one. Or pretty new. I can invest some for the children and a nest egg for me and some for Dan. Out of what’s left some could go to the renovations.’
‘You’re still thinking of doing the house sharing?’
Something cold slithered down her spine. ‘Have you changed your mind?’
‘Of course not. With that amount of money, you’d have a lot more options. I wondered if you’d given any thought to what those options might be.’
‘I thought we were doing it for the children.’
